by EJ Everette
“The members of the House of Brek have great knowledge, obviously brainy smurf over there, and we also have a way with the elements, which is where I get my special moves.” With this, Reid smiles a big toothy grin of a smile, then sits back down in silence. Rip seems annoyed with his brother, only slightly so, but continues on as if he wasn’t related to the crazy one in the group. Honestly, Reid’s silliness is exactly what I need right now to keep from losing my mind entirely.
“A guardian was sent from the House of Puria, the people of the world. Seers, if you will.” Rip indicates to where Chance stands, but the stoic blonde is too high and mighty to share with the group, so Rip fills in the blanks for him. “Chance comes directly from the line of seers who foretold the prophecy and, we suspect, will have great abilities in this area when we return home.” The asshole in question sneers at Rip, almost as if insulted by his words, but still neglects to speak up even a little. Fine. Ugh he is so infuriating. Now is not the time for silence.
“Finally, the last guardian was chosen from the House of Walen, the forgers and fighters for the king.” Mitch stands and does some weird bowing move, which makes Reid snicker a little across from him, before turning to me.
“The House of Walen provides the armor and fighters for the army of Valencia. From the time we are able to walk, we are trained to hunt, to fight, and to kill anything that threatens our home and its people.” He sits down, indicating to Rip to continue with his story. Meanwhile, color me surprised. I guess the whole bear conversation wasn’t as random as I thought it was. Of course now, especially after what Dean said before about changing form, I wonder if Mitch becomes a bear or some crazy shit. Part of me wants to ask, but the sane part (though getting smaller by the minute) keeps my mouth shut.
“All five of us were sent here, to the Realm of Deeter, also known as earth, about forty years ago.”
Hold the fucking door! Forty years?! I look around at the guys and, while there is no way I believe any of them are mere teenagers, they sure as hell don’t look like old men!
“Ok, I am sorry but no, just no. Forty years ago, huh? Well shit, you all look great for some old men, then.” I shake my head in pure disbelief. No way.
“Actually, we are rather young. And, we aren’t men. We are gods.” Chance finally fucking talks and this is the shit he decides to say? “To be perfectly honest, so are you. Happy now, princess? You know the truth. You aren’t human either.”
“You all have lost your fucking minds. Gods, huh? And I am just supposed to believe that shit? Don’t you think if I was a god I would have, I don’t know, smited the hell out of the creeps who abused me for years or whatever gods do? Disintegrated the bastards who sold me to pay for their addictions? You’re wrong. Probably insane, but definitely wrong. Charlie and I are normal fucking human people.”
My voice is louder, breaking from pain I am trying to keep inside. I know I should probably be worried about others overhearing me but right now I really just don’t give a shit. How many nights did I hide in the dark, wishing and hoping I could be different. Praying I would suddenly be super strong and save myself. Save my little brother? How many times did I waste hope that the agony and fear would stop? That something better awaited me, any day now? Fucking gods. Now I’ve heard it all.
6
Gray
I stand to leave, not able to take much more of this, and very much in need of space to think. To process. Rip, however, reaches out to me.
“Wait! Please…” I stop, just two steps away from them but already I can feel the strange ache in my chest telling me we aren’t as close as my body wants us to be. Shit. There is something here. I might not believe what they are saying because, well who the fuck would without copious amounts of liquor or meth in their system, but something is going on. Hesitant, I turn around and face them. All five are on their feet as if they planned to chase after me when I ran. I don’t know why, and it sure as hell shouldn’t be this way, but the thought makes me happy.
“I know. I know it all sounds crazy, but I promised to tell you everything and answer your questions. We all did. Let us, Gray. Let us try.” Rip’s pleading digs its way into my head, the barriers still there but not as strong as they need to be.
“Fine. I will listen to the rest of your bedtime story. But you have to promise, when it's all done, if I tell you to leave, you will. No fighting me.” Even the thought of making them leave feels wrong somehow and I see the pain in Dean’s face seconds before he stifles it. Still, I know me and I don’t handle emotions well, even on my best day. I will need the space.
“Agreed. Now, if you don’t mind sitting, we can get to the part where I can answer some of those questions I can sense rolling around inside your mind.” He gestures back over to the chairs, the guys all parting to allow me past before taking their own places around me.
“We can come back to the gods topics at a later time or when you have questions, but yes, Chance is correct. We are not human, we are all superiors of our race and essentially considered gods, though we rarely call ourselves that.” He shoots an unhappy scowl over in Chance’s direction before fixing his features and continuing.
“You, Gray, are from the House of Moriah. You, Gray, are our princess. The prophecy child. Your mother, Princess Keilitara, fled Moriah when she learned of her pregnancy. No one knows who your father is and the princess was killed, here in Deeter, before anyone could find out. Killed, Gray. Your mother did not die in a car accident. We can’t die that easily, even in this realm. When the king felt her death, we were told the general location to find you on earth. Time is different in each of the realms forcing us to show up in Deeter over twenty years before you were even born. We had spent countless years searching for you, just to find out you weren’t even alive yet. No one knew where the princess fled, originally, but we knew, thanks to Chance’s family… well we were fairly certain you’d end up in this realm, so we came and we waited. The day we met you, at the school, we were all sure it was you. Finally. We had been so distraught for so long, having sworn an oath of duty yet been unable to fulfill it. That had been devastating. Finding you was like coming up for air after being forced below the surface for too long. We reported back to the council in excitement that day.”
“The day I met Ink… when you came storming in the house…” I remembered the frustration Rip and Dean had expressed and how the guys started talking at once. They do that often. I had been too overwhelmed and ended up out in the barn, talking to a horse. Sort of.
“Yes, we had just returned from the council with news. They had confirmed you were the prophecy girl. Though, after watching you with Ink, I was more sure than I had ever been about anything. Ink is an empath animal. She is my fated mare, my connection in our realm, sort of like what your media depicts familiars as for the witches on television here. She can read emotions, sense when someone is true, and most importantly, she can’t stand humans. At all. She took to you, bonded with you, instantly. Since then, whenever we ride, she reaches out for you.”
My mind flicks back to Ink and the emotions I thought I felt coming from her. I felt like a crazy version of Dr. Dolittle in that moment, but maybe it was more. Maybe, all of this shit is adding up together. Maybe, just maybe, I’m not crazy. Maybe I am a god?
“The council confirmed what we already knew, but there was more to it. They told us you had no idea who you were, which we had gathered already, as well. All of us felt the same thing you felt. We felt the pull to be near you, to complete our destiny. We felt every little zing, spark, tingle, whatever. You are the child of the prophecy, our princess, and we are your fated guardians. But…”
“But what? How the hell can there be more? And how does that explain what happened the other night? Or how any of this…” my frustration makes it nearly impossible to think clearly about anything right now.
“But, wifey, you hadn’t come into your powers yet. That’s what. Each of us, each member of the royal line, each god is born without any
power aside from our hard-to-kill exterior and slow aging. It isn’t until we ignite that we discover our true power.” Reid’s face is blank, allowing me to sort everything he just said out on my own without his emotion getting in the way. I am grateful for that. Powers. Does that mean I have powers now? What about them?
“What makes you ignite? I mean, why that night? And what about you? Have you all… ignited, too?”
Chance, yet again, turns his back to us and walks off. This time, I feel him stop some distance off, but he is no longer in view. Instead, Dean takes over. Seeming to come to some agreement after what appears to be an intense internal struggle, he gets up and sits back down next to me, this time in the same position as when we talked on the beach what feels like ages ago.
“Remember when I told you about my parents?” He seems calm, like we are talking about the weather, but I can feel the despair inside of him from just mentioning them. I nod my head, reaching my hand out to touch his shoulder. He immediately relaxes at my touch, expelling a lungful of air I didn’t realize he had been holding. “When we ignite, our emotions bond with our inherent power. We have it, always, within us, but until that moment, we can’t access it. It needs to cement itself within us by connecting to something. For all of us, and you, it was emotional trauma. Severe intense emotional pain, gut-wrenching agony, that leaves you stripped and bare inside. The day my uncle told me about my parents was the day I ignited. I was first. The youngest. We had been so incredibly close and I lost them both. I have never felt any pain like that since, though I have recently come close a few times…” His hand comes to lay on top of mine, gently squeezing it, before dropping back down. “Each of us has a story, Gray, though none as severe as yours I imagine. Each of us have endured great things to be your guardians, something we are all proud of. You aren’t alone in your grief, remember. You have us. Forever.”
“Wh-what happened after the council told you I hadn’t i-i-ignited yet? You were all so weird after that.” Stuttering like my sweet Tanner (though sounding anything but sweet myself), memories of their behavior after that day play like a film reel in my mind.
“The stupid council…” Reid starts but Mitch cuts him off with a fierce look.
“The council thought it best if we monitored you but kept our distance to see what you knew. We were aware someone was trying to get to you, to force the igniting, but we had no idea who. Honestly, we all thought it was the Flynn kid since he showed up seeming all fake and shit, whisking you away from us, but somehow he checks out. Human.” Mitch seems disappointed with this fact. Something else caught my attention then. Did he just say someone was after me?
“Wait. Someone was trying to get me? How do you know?” My pulse is quickening again, panic eating away at me.
“Yes, Gray. I was getting to that,” Rip says, clearly annoyed with Mitch for interrupting his well thought out story-telling time. “When we learned of your mother’s death, we made our way to find you. We were so close many times, but something would get in the way, move you from our path, every time. Eventually we discovered lower beings, from the House of Gash, had also heard of the prophecy. They are not friends of the realms, Gray, they are horrid beings. They were sent after you, like us, though not to protect you. Their mission was to force the igniting. They believe you are destined to bring about the fall of all Valencia, affording them the chance to conquer the realms and rule. Every home you were placed in, beaten, abused… they have people everywhere to do their bidding. Your mother’s death. Your grandfather’s sudden illness, preventing your Grams from taking you when your mother died. Even the fire. Our enemies are great and they want you. It has always been and always will be our job to protect you. We have already failed you once. Now that you have ignited, our powers are stronger. We will do better. And, now you know the truth of who you are. It may take you some time to accept it, but we aren’t going anywhere. We belong to you.”
“Someone… something is responsible for… Charlie…” Rip’s words are too much. All of the pain has a reason. All of the things Charlie will never forget. Grams’ death. Even the death of my mother. All of it has a reason. Me. It’s all because of me.
“But you don’t have to worry, angel. We are here. We will take care of you. We are stronger now that you have ignited. You can feel us, we can feel you. Mitch can finally get a read on your feelings and emotions and I am pretty sure I can reach you in your dreams now without any issues.” Dean sounds so excited, like all of this weight has been lifted from us, but I do not return an ounce of his joy.
“What do you mean Mitch can get a read on me? And why are you in my dreams? What are you talking about?”
“Each of us has power, doll. It is much stronger in our home realms, but it is still with us. Just like yours. I can sense emotions. In Deeter it's mostly like being an empath, but with the guys, and now you, it’s almost like reading minds. When I am home, I can read the intentions of anyone near me with little to no effort. Dean can manipulate consciousness, literally knocking anyone around him plum-the-fuck-out when we are home. Here, his power can be focused on one person at a time but mostly appears in dream form where he can enter dreams to communicate with others. Reid is an amplifier. He can find an emotion within someone be it fear, love, sadness, anger, whatever, and strengthen it or lessen it as desired. Comes in handy on the battlefield, that’s for sure. Oddly enough, Rip is our seer-wannabe in many ways. While his visions are specific at home, pertaining to knowledge he is needing or seeking, here it has manifested more like flickers of the future. That’s how we found you the night of the fire. Rip saw it.”
Mitch sits, casually, explaining it all to me but two things ring out to me above everything else. 1- Chance doesn’t seem to have any power or maybe they just aren’t telling me his and 2- they have used their power on me and kept me in the dark this entire time. I have been a pawn to them. What I thought was friendship, maybe even the potential for more one day, was all duty. They are excited to discuss battles and powers, but what of me? They speak of their destiny, what some person told another person infinity years before I was even born, and if I am to believe them, their entire lives now revolve around serving a purpose that involves me. I am literally just their job to them. None of this was real. Not even a little bit.
“You need to leave,” I push through gritted teeth. “Now. You promised if I wanted you to leave, you would. I want you to go. I want you to go and don’t try to contact me.” I push out of my chair, the force knocking Dean to the side, but I am back to full robot now. No more. I will no longer let this emotional connection between us, this tether, dictate how I act or what I feel. No, I need space now. Maybe for good.
“What? Didn’t you hear what we said?” Reid is approaching me but Rip must see the determination in my eyes. He stops his brother, clasping his arm across his chest to hold him back from coming to me. “Gray? Wifey? Don’t you get it? You can trust us. That’s why you felt safe? That’s why you are different with us. We are destined to be together.” Pain laces every syllable as he watches me shut him out, but there is no room for pity now. My eyes lock with the now-returned Chance and he just nods, a brisk movement of his head, before walking past me and around the side of the house to leave. In the distance, the truck starts up. Dean and Mitch stare at me for a moment before ducking their heads, walking away.
“Nu-uh. I didn’t wait this long. We haven’t done all of this for nothing. Can’t you see it, brother? She is pushing us away? We can’t let that happen. She has to know. We need her. She needs us!” Reid is fighting Rip’s hold, pushing at his twin, anger maring his beautiful features.
“We need to give her time, brother. We need to walk away like she asked. If this is what our princess needs of us, this is what we will do. You will not fight me on this. Walk. Away.” Rip’s voice is practically unrecognizable as he forces the demand onto his twin. Reid pushes a little more before finally shoving off in anger, storming away in the opposite direction, but Rip doesn’t seem to
care. He turns to look at me then, and I almost stumble. Gone is the sweet, caring Rip. Before me stands a man, an image of what I imagine a god to look like. His muscles are taut, hands fisted at his side. His eyes glower at me from behind his glasses. He seems to be calming a rage within himself but, out here, it doesn’t look like it is working.
When he finally gains some sort of composure, looking less like a vengeful deity and more like Rip, he lowers his voice to speak to me. Briefly I recall the last time he did this, when he threatened to spank me, but the thought disappears from my mind, safely stored behind the stone wall I am erecting to keep them out.
“We will leave. I promised we would. But you need to know something. We cannot stay away. I won’t force them to hide away any longer. You may not see us, and that’s fine if you don’t want to for now, but you will feel us. Because you are ours. Our destiny, our responsibility. Our Gray. We will protect you. We will watch you. And if it means we have to stand by while some human child courts you, we will do so. Our lives are entwined, my princess. Nothing changes that. So, take your time. Figure your shit out. I respect that there was a great deal of information laid on you today and you are still recovering from a great loss. But those men are my family and I will not pretend their feelings are not worth protecting just because you are scared. When you are ready, we will be here. Until then, don’t trust anyone.”
He stares at me as if his eyes can tell me things his mouth cannot. Maybe they could, but my eyes aren’t listening. My heart has been too involved with these guys and even now he is standing here telling me I have no choice in the matter. I am their responsibility whether I like it or not.